LITR 4328 American Renaissance Research Posts 2016 (research post assignment) Research Post 1

Vaneza M. Cervantes 

Transcendentalist Women

          When covering the subject of Transcendentalism, “which encouraged the perfection of the individual,” in any literature classroom, you can't help but notice and wonder if all the writers were male (Smith). Of course we had Emily Dickinson, but she was never a firm believer of the movement (Grocholski). Therefore I had to ask the question, Why is it that when we read or hear about the Transcendentalist movement Emerson and other male figures pop up? Were there any women who wrote about Transcendentalism? For that reason this research post will be on the hidden women who followed—or led—the Transcendental movement.

          One could conclude that before the 1830s, it was a male-dominated world where women would fall submissive and their only occupation was to be housewives. However, from the 1830s to the 1850s women broke out of the norm to find an outlet—something to make them feel like they belonged in a world dominated by men. It is Margaret Fuller who starts with women contributing to Transcendentalism. As it turns out, Fuller worked closely with Emerson, the founder of Transcendentalism, on The Dial, the movement's primary publication. As one Fuller website states, “Perhaps Margaret's most significant journalistic contribution to The Dial was an article in 1843 entitled 'The Great Lawsuit: Man versus Men, Woman versus Women' in which she argued for woman´s rights. As a Transcendentalist she was on friendly terms with, and also intellectually respected by, Emerson, Thoreau, the Peabody sisters, the Alcotts, and others” (http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/transcendentalism/margaret_fuller.html). This is something amazing for me to learn—that this woman was not afraid of the outcome of speaking her mind in a man-run world. If it weren’t for brave women like Fuller, women’s rights wouldn’t have been possible.

From a scholarly article by Mary Kelley we come to know that, “the 'conversations' that Margaret Fuller held between 1839 and 1844 launched these women's engagement. Not only did Fuller introduce women from Boston and its environs to the salience of Transcendentalism, but she also provided them with a forum to interrogate women's position as social and intellectual subordinates. Among the participants, Elizabeth Peabody, Lydia Maria Child, Caroline Dall, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Edna Cheney were most visibly influenced by Fuller's conviction that the reform of society began with self-reform, or self-culture.” After learning about the Transcendentalist movement, seeing the good of people and nature, Fuller knew the outcome it could bestow on others. Therefore, more women looked up to her and followed.

Elizabeth Peabody is another woman who followed the movement of Transcendentalism. According to Tharp, “When Elizabeth became interested in studying Greek she began taking lessons from a young teacher named Ralph Waldo Emerson. When the sessions ended, he refused the payment she offered, but they did strike up a friendship. Peabody was enamored of him" (27-28). Later on in life, Peabody would seek Emerson's approval when she began publishing her own work" (Ronda 118) (Grocholski). One thing that I noticed about these women so far is that they started in the track of being school teacher, one of the few careers that women can obtain. However, whenever they met the dashing Emerson, their outlook changed. They still became school teachers, but taught about a different viewpoint, a viewpoint of Transcendentalism. Elizabeth Peabody joined the Transcendental movement in order to help others get into the path of right.

The last woman I will be discussing is one of my favorite authors, Louisa May Alcott. I would never have guessed that she was part of the Transcendentalist club. However, for Louisa it all started from birth: “He (Bronson Alcott, Louisa’s father) was also part of the Transcendentalist movement” (Smith). “To assist him with teaching, he relied on two of the brightest women in Boston—Elizabeth Peabody and Margaret Fuller. Their work produced Alcott’s book Conversations with Children (1836), which shocked Bostonians when they learned he was teaching children a more “personalized” view of Jesus. The Alcotts lived near fellow Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, whose counsel Bronson Alcott sought for new projects and guidance.” In a way Louisa grew up with an image of what should be ideal through Transcendentalism, and that drove her thinking to her imagination. Louisa even got to go into Emerson’s library and study and wrote her own novels: “she began to read works of great literature and history that sparked her imagination” (Smith).

In conclusion, “Transcendentalism is a very formal word that describes a very simple idea. People, men and women equally, have knowledge about themselves and the world around them that 'transcends' or goes beyond what they can see, hear, taste, touch or feel” (“Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy”). I like this quote to be in the end because it summarizes everything perfectly. There were Transcendentalist women out there. These Transcendentalist women helped Emerson with various things, conducting new ideas, editing, writing, making the Dial and other articles a success to other people who don’t know about the Transcendentalist movement. Also the women helped in giving a push to the Women’s Rights Movement, through writing and expressing their ideas, without any setbacks, to go beyond everything. In a way this movement was a hidden gift to things that have happened, including the women’s movement, women’s rights, women’s freedom of speech. However I would love that when you hear Transcendentalist, your mind would go to Emerson, and then to Margaret Fuller, the co-captain of Transcendentalism, the trailblazer for women in the Transcendentalist movement.

Works Cited

Grocholski, Krystyna. “Transcendental Legacy in Literature: Emily Dickinson & Elizabeth   Peabody.” American   Transcendentalism Web. American Transcendentalism Web, n.d.       Web. 15 Oct. 2016. http://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/roots/legacy/dickinson/index.html

http://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/peabody/

Kelley, Mary. "Woman Thinking: Feminism And Transcendentalism In Nineteenth-Century America." Journal Of American History 92.4 (n.d.): 1430-1431. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 Oct. 2016. file:///C:/Users/User/Documents/research%20paper%20sources.pdf

Smith, Bonnie H. “Louisa May Alcott,” Boston Women’s Hertiage Trail. Pickering Web Design, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. http://bwht.org/louisa-may-alcott/

“Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy.” U.S. History. Ushistory.org, 2008-2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. http://www.ushistory.org/us/26f.asp